Abstract:

The construction industry consumes energy throughout its life cycle. Countries that import most of the energy they consume are looking for ways to reduce the energy consumption of the construction sector. In this quest, the architectural design process and material decisions are important passive measures for reducing energy consumption. It is significant to determine the effects of external wall materials which have the largest surface area subjected to the climatic conditions where the buildings are located. In this study, by using the tracing technique, the external wall details of the residential projects in Ankara were examined, and effective parameters were used as input variables in energy modelling. The core materials used in the external walls were considered as the variables of this research since different types of materials were used according to geographical location despite being in the same climate zone. The energy consumption amounts were analyzed with the Green Building Studio program. In the analysis, the insulation materials and their thicknesses were kept constant. Results showed that while the wall details with the highest energy consumption were for the brick blocks in the Kızılcahamam region, the energy consumption for the pumice blocks in the Keçiören region was minimum. In conclusion, it is inferred that geographical location and wall core material type may increase energy consumption values up to 25%.

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